Team Herald
PANJIM: The members of 5 Pillars Christian Church have denied the allegation made by Gomantak Hindu Prathisthan that converts to their Church trample on idols and pictures of their previous religion.
Terming the allegation as false, five representatives of that Church in a press release said, “We are never taught to do so; neither the Bible teaches us to do so. In the several years that we are attending the services regularly, we never witnessed such practices as alleged and the allegations are only to defame the teachings of Lord Jesus.”
As for the allegation that the miraculous oil given by followers of that Church was nothing but parachute coconut oil purchased in the market, the members suggested that it is not the chemical components of the oil that makes it miraculous, but the “prayer, faith and Blessing of the Lord” that makes it miraculous.
The members further contented that by questioning their practice of “anointing their followers with oil in the name of the Lord”, Ankit Salgaonkar and Shailendra Velingkar of Gomantak Hindu Prathisthan “are insulting publically our religious sentiments, faith and belief in the scriptures and are liable for penal action under Sections 295 and 295A of IPC.”
“It is our fundamental right to religious freedom which Gomantak Hindu Prathisthan, Ankit Salgaonkar and Shailendra Velingkar are violating,” says the press release signed by Santan Pinto, Yatish Salgaonkar, Vijay Kumar Surlakar, Amit Patil and Oliver Fernandes.
